This paper examines changes in acquirer and target companies' Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads as a proxy for default risk around official mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announce-ments. Related literature extensively documents wealth effects triggered by M&A from the shareholders' perspective,...

This paper examines changes in Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads as a proxy for default risk after M&A announcement for the companies involved. Existing literature extensively documents wealth effects triggered by M&A announcements from the shareholders' perspective, but there is limited...

This study explores the investment behavior of underperforming chief executive officers (CEOs) on merger frequency and the effect on acquirers’ shareholder wealth of merger bids in U.S. industrial firms. We find that underperforming CEOs are more likely to make acquisitions, especially...

This study explores the behavior of underperforming chief executive officers (CEOs) on merger frequency and the effect on acquirers’ shareholder wealth of merger bids in U.S. industrial firms from 1994 to 2018. We find that underperforming CEOs are more likely to make acquisitions, especially...